


Harbour Lights

by alecsangel (angel)



Category: Dark Angel
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-21
Updated: 2004-04-21
Packaged: 2017-11-23 23:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/627825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel/pseuds/alecsangel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rewrite of the episode Harbor Lights, in which Alec gets shot instead of Max. Chaos, as always, ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harbour Lights

**Author's Note:**

> Most of these words belong to the writers of the episode "Harbor Lights". I figured, what better way to re-write than to be true to the script until I needed to break away. I hope that you like it :)

Alec shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he stood waiting in line to get a container of gasoline. After seeing Max on her bike more than once, he'd decided that he needed one too and had promptly stolen one from the local mafia's hideout warehouse a couple nights ago. Now, all he needed was some gas and he could take a ride, maybe race Max sometime.

"Hey! Excuse me. We were in front of you." A woman ahead of Alec called out, standing up from where she had been crouching, talking to her son.

"You snooze you lose," a man on a motorcycle replied. He had obviously just cut line in front of the woman.

Alec tensed, waiting for a fight, but none seemed forthcoming. His attention moved to a man reading a tabloid with the headline, "GENETIC MUTANTS ARE AMONG US! More sightings of demons, mutants & monsters! Manticore's super soldiers have escaped!"

Rolling his eyes, Alec caught the sound of the last of the gasoline being dispensed. He turned to look to the front of the line in time for the sector cop to start speaking.

"Truck’s tapped, people. Everybody go home."

This earned a groan from the crowd. The man that was on the motorcycle shoved his way to the front of the crowd. "Hey, I got a rally in Portland tomorrow, man. How am I gonna make it there without any gas?"

"Lots of lonely truckers out there, pal. Pretty boy like you would have no trouble gettin’ a ride." The sector cop replied, obviously not happy to be dealing with this guy.

"Oh, well, I ain’t leavin’ without my gas!" He responded, pulling out a gun. The sector cop wrestled with him for it, but the gun discharged into the crowd.

People ran in all directions separating the mother and child that had gotten cut in front of by the biker.

"Joey! Joey, no! My little boy! Somebody help me! Joey! Joey!" The mother screamed, trying to make her way toward the little boy.

Alec sighed and ran toward the boy, intent on not letting him get caught in the crossfire. However, before he could reach the kid, a stray bullet hit him in the abdomen, and Alec fell to the ground, unmoving and unconscious.

~~!!~~

RING RING

Alec groggily awoke to the sound of his cell phone ringing. As he became more aware of his surroundings, the hustle and bustle of people moving all around him caused his eyes to snap open. A hospital, he thought as his eyes darted around. He was in a hospital.

"Gunshot wound to the abdomen. Airway’s clear, but respirations are shallow. Pulse 135 and thready." The EMT walking beside the gurney spoke, and Alec's head turned toward him.

"Blood pressure?" An African American woman wearing a white coat asked. Alec's head spun as he tried to keep track of the people. Damn, his stomach hurt too.

"Eighty over forty and dropping. Belly’s indurated and distended. Bullet might have nicked a blood vessel." The EMT spoke again.

"Extremities?" The woman, obviously a doctor, Alec decided, spoke.

"Good motion and sensitivity. No indication of a spinal cord injury."

"I'm alright," Alec mumbled groggily. "Just slap a band-aid on it and kick me out of here."

"Sir? Do you know where you are, Sir?" The doctor asked, looking down at Alec.

"Don't call me that," Alec replied, his eyes slightly vacant as his foggy mind took him back to Manticore, back to hell.

"You're at Harbour Lights Medical." The doctor said, ignoring Alec's comment, but also not calling him 'sir' anymore. "You’ve had an accident, but we’re going to take care of you now."

Alec shook his head and forced himself up onto his elbows. In the same motion, he pulled the nasal cannula from his nose. "I can't stay."

"Try to relax. We’re going to take good care of you." A nurse said, placing her hands on his shoulders and trying to push him back down onto the gurney.

"Hang three units O-neg. Get him typed and cross-matched." The doctor's voice again. Alec was getting dizzy. There were too many people around.

"No tests." He managed to say, grabbing the doctor's forearm.

"You’ll be okay." The doctor soothed, trying to get out of Alec's grip.

"No tests!" He insisted, tightening his grip on her arm.

"A little help, here?" The doctor shouted and before Alec could do anything, he felt the sharp sting of a needle and the world swirled away.

~~!!~~

At Jam Pony, Max sat beside Original Cindy, talking about boring, old Logan.

"Things are still weird between you and Logan, huh?" OC asked, trying to sympathize with her best friend. Personally, she didn't see the appeal of the old guy, but she didn't really see the appeal of any man. All she knew was that Manticore made 'em pretty and RollerBoy didn't quite fall into that category.

"Define 'weird'," Max requested, rolling her eyes.

"Weird as in he’s still upset that the twelve-hour window you had to be together got slammed shut on his fingers." OC replied, knowingly.

"When you put it that way, yeah. Things are still weird." Max sighed and shrugged.

"Bip! Bip! Bip!" Normal shouted and walked over to them. "Are any of you deliquents planning on working today? And has anyone seen Alec?"

"Go back behind your filthy desk before one of us puts the smackdown," OC glared up at Normal. "Can't you see we tryin' to have a conversation."

"Degenerates," Normal muttered, shaking his head as handed the packages off to the other messengers.

"Max!" Sketchy called, skidding his bike to a stop in front of the benches where Max and OC were sitting.

"What's up, Sketch?" Max asked, standing up and slamming her locker shut.

"I was over in Sector three and saw Alec standing in the gasoline line."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" She bitched in a bored tone of voice.

"Some dude went crazy when the tank ran outta gas and Alec got shot, man." He looked confused for a moment and tried to backtrack over his last word, "Uh, woman?"

Max's eyes widened and she moved to stand directly in front of Sketchy. "Tell me exactly what happened." She demanded and in minutes, Sketchy had related the whole incident.

"Go after him, Boo," OC nodded toward the door. "This could be bad for all y'all. I'll cover with Normal."

Max nodded and ran toward the door, calling a "Thanks, OC," over her shoulder.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Sketchy asked, looking concerned for his friend.

"He's Alec. He be fine." OC replied, but sounded as if she was also trying to convince herself of that.

~~!!~~

Thirty minutes later, Max arrived at Harbour Lights, the closest hospital to the shooting area. Not knowing if they knew Alec's name or not, she strode up to the blonde nurse at the emergency room desk and pounded on the counter to get her attention.

"Fill out this form and wait in the admitting area until your name is called," the busty girl said in monotone as she tried to hand Max a clipboard without even glancing at her.

"I'm lookin' for someone. Gunshot victim. Brought in here about an hour ago or so." Max rolled her eyes as she pushed the clipboard back at the woman.

"You'll have to be more specific." The girl, Virginia or so her nametag read, barely raised her eyes to look at Max. "We get a lot of those."

"He's about 6 foot. Barcode tattoo on the back of his neck. Will answer to pretty boy." Max scowled.

"Ah, yes. The young man from the gasoline line. He was a real hero - jumping in front of that little boy like that. Are you a relative?"

"I'm his sister," Max replied off-handedly as her mind tried to wrap around the thought of Alec jumping in front of a little boy. That just didn't compute very well with her being that Alec was a self-centered as they can come from Manticore's prize test tubes.

"They took him up to surgery, but he's probably out by now. You should check with the desk on the sixth floor to get a room number for him."

"Thanks," Max muttered, turning to go.

"Hey!" Virginia called after her. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

Max kept walking, releasing a loud groan of annoyance. Close to the stairway door, she spotted a pay phone. Grabbing the receiver and fishing enough change out of her pocket to pay for the call, she quickly dialed a number. "Dr. Carr, it's Max. How fast can you get to Harbour Lights?"

"Fifteen minutes. Why? Are you hurt?"

"No, my," she hesitated over the word, but it tumbled out of her mouth a few moments later anyway, "friend, Alec, was shot this morning."

"Oh," Carr obviously understood that Alec was an X5. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Try to make sure that they don't run anymore tests on him until I get there, please."

"Of course. And I told them that I was his sister," she said, in case he needed to know, before hanging up the phone and hurrying up the stairs.

~~!!~~

"Hi, Dr. Carr," a woman in a white lab coat shook his hand as he met her at the nurse's station on the sixth floor. "I'm Dr. Carrington, Mr. Eastman's attending physician. The nurses told me you were on your way."

"Yes, Leo's sister called me and told me that he'd been brought in. Could you fill me in on his condition?"

"Of course," Dr. Harrington smiled, obviously relieved that a patient was being taken off her hands. "Once we got the bleeding under control, surgery went off without a hitch. He should be up and running in a few days."

"Any tests run?" Dr. Carr asked, sounding as casual as possible.

"The usual. They haven’t come back yet, though."

"Should’ve had ’em back hours ago." He commented, feeling uneasy with her response.

"This place," she sighed and rolled her eyes, "Yesterday we ran out of sterile gloves. Gloves! You believe that? Bet that never happens at Crestview, though."

Dr. Carr gave a short laugh and nodded to her as they reached room 614. "Thank you, Dr. Harrington."

~~!!~~

In his room, Alec's eyes snapped open and he knew where he was immediately. This is not good, not good at all, he thought to himself. Wincing, and pressing a hand to his wound, he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He bit his lip, determined not to make a noise, as he pushed himself to his feet and shuffled to the end of the bed where his chart hung.

"You really shouldn't be out of bed, Mr. Eastman," a nurse said from behind him and Alec jumped, letting out a small cry of pain.

"Sorry," Alec muttered, but didn't move.

The nurse gave a sigh of disapproval and took his elbow to help him back into bed. "You have a visitor, you know." She said, keeping a firm hold on him even though he tried to pull away.

"I do?" Alec asked, giving in and settling himself back on the bed. However, he pushed the nurse away when she tried to check his vitals. "I'm fine."

"Mm-hmm, your sister was in here for a few minutes, your doctor came though and she's been talking to him."

"Hey, little bro Leo," Max said as she entered the room a moment later.

"Nice hair, Sis," Alec replied, playing along with the charade by using the first thing that came to mind. The fact that Max's hair looked exactly the same as usual made him want to crack a smile. Then he vaguely wondered what kind of medication they had him hooked up too.

"Nice gunshot wound," she shot back, moving to stand beside the bed.

"Visiting hours are over soon. Try to keep it short." The nurse said, looking up when Dr. Carr enter the room. He nodded for her to go and she left without another word.

"If I knew this is all it took to get a visit from you Maxie, I would’ve gotten my ass shot up a while ago." Alec commented, shifting on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position.

"The nurse gave me your clothes and other personal belongings," Dr. Carr said, setting a bag on the foot of the bed, before moving to Alec's other side and pulling his gown away from his side to check the wound.

Alec nodded and hissed as Dr. Carr pulled the bandage away.

"How are you feeling?" Max asked, watching the other X5's face.

"Like getting out of here," Alec replied through clenched teeth.

"That's not the best idea right now," Dr. Carr said, replacing the bandage and Alec's gown. "You've lost a lot of blood and your body needs time to recover."

"I can't stay here, Doc," Alec shook his head and tried to sit up.

Max's hand shot out and pressed lightly against his wound. Alec gasped and collapsed backward into his pillows. "Dr. Carr's taken over your case, Alec. Just lay there and look injured."

"I am injured," he gritted. "But I've hard worse. And I don't want White or someone else to find me in here."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Alec," Dr. Carr said. "I've gotten clearance for Max to stay here tonight in case anyone should show up. And I've gathered all your test results and paperwork from around the hospital. No one will know that you're here."

"Oh, yay. Just what I've always wanted."

Max raised an eyebrow. "Don't try to pretend that it's not your dream come true, Pretty Boy."

"Only if you or both of us ended up naked at some point." He responded with a smirk.

"Asshole," Max replied, extending her hand to smack him, but catching herself before she could hit him. Alec had cringed away from her, waiting for the hit to his already pained body.

"Anyway," Dr. Carr drew their attention back to him, "I suppose I could release you tomorrow, but you'd have to stay with someone in case something happened. And don't argue with me because you're an X5. I'm not releasing you unless you have someone to stay with."

"Sure, fine, whatever," Alec muttered, picking at a loose string in his blanket.

"Okay, then," Dr. Carr said, deciding not to press the issue until later. "I'm only fifteen minutes away if you need me tonight. The nurses have my number. Alec, let the nurses examine you during the night. It's their job."

"They don't have to," Alec said, sounding calm, but Max could hear the undertones of fear. Growing up at Manticore didn't exactly make you fond of doctors or nurses and she knew that Alec had much more experience with the bad kind that she had.

"Tell them that I'm a nurse," Max said, sitting down on the chair beside Alec's bed and scowling at it's uncomfortability.

Dr. Carr frowned, but nodded. "Alright. I'll be back in the morning. Please be here when I get here."

Alec shrugged and Max smacked his leg lightly. "He'll be here. Thanks, Carr."

The doctor nodded and left the room.

No sooner had the door closed than Alec was already trying to stand again. "Pass me that bag, Max."

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She hopped up and pushed him back down onto the bed.

"Leaving. Now get off me," he replied, with a weary sigh.

"It's just one night, Alec. Calm down, lay back, and relax."

"Why do you suddenly care so much?" He asked, not moving.

"Because I'm the one that has to carry your ass back when you pass out. No thanks."

"I'm fine." Alec argued, standing again, but swaying as the room spun around him.

Max reached out to steady him and help him sit back down. "And I'm the Queen of England," she muttered. "Now lay back, shut your mouth, and go to sleep."

Alec was too tired and in too much pain to argue. He'd only sleep for a couple hours, he told himself as he closed his eyes and fell into slumber.

~~!!~~

"Sir," Otto Gottlieb, a young man with olive skin and dark hair, held a piece of paper out to his boss, Ames White. "Our contact at Harbour Lights Medical said that a young man with a barcode tattoo on the back of his neck was admitted this afternoon. His blood work was run secretly and some interesting results were found."

"Interesting indeed." White nodded approvingly at Otto. "Is 494 still there?"

"Our contact says yes. There's a dark-haired woman with him. Do you think it could be 452?"

White nodded, "Unless it's one of his bimbos, which I highly doubt."

Otto chuckled quietly. "The contact said that the woman had convinced him to stay the night. Are we going to move on this, Sir?"

White nodded. "Get the men ready. We depart in one hour."

~~!!~~

An hour later, Alec stirred, his eyes opening lazily until he realized where he was. A noise caught his attention in the hallway. Precise footsteps were quietly making their way toward his room.

"Max," Alec said, looking over at her sleeping form. He tilted his head, struck by her non-violent looks as she slept. She was sitting in the chair beside his bed, her head tilted back, her legs propped up on his hospital bed. He might even describe her as cute, if he didn't know what she was like when she was wide-awake and being super-bitch.

The sound of his doorknob being turned caused his attention to snap in that direction.

"Max!" Alec sharply spat, moving his leg to knock hers off his bed and wake her up.

She sat up abruptly, now fully awake and aware. "Alec!" she hissed, reaching out to hit him when his door opened.

Alec nearly laughed when his gaze shot back over to the door. The man that entered his room was wearing something that looked like it was out of a pre-Pulse sci-fi movie. It was a white suit with a cylindrical helmet that covered the man's entire head. He peered at Alec through the clear shield that allowed him to see outside the suit.

"Who are you?" Max jumped out of her seat and moved to stand between Alec and this man.

"My name’s Dr. George. I’m with the Centers for Disease Control," he replied. "Now, if you'll kindly move, I need to examine Mr. Eastman."

"What are they doing?" Alec asked, pointing to the other men that entered the room and began sealing it off with clear plastic.

"Try to keep calm. It’s just a precaution until we can determine the origin of your infection." Dr. George replied, stepping around Max and over to Alec's side.

"My what?" Alec asked, as the doctor looked at all the monitors around his bed.

"When you were brought into the ER yesterday, your blood was run through a special machine. That machine detected a virus in your system. The hospital called us in so we could help you."

"I’m not contagious. You don’t need any of this crap." Alec gestured around at the men in the room. "I've always carried the virus, but it's not dangerous to anyone."

"Well, we just want to be sure."

"I am sure and I'm leaving," Alec replied, sitting up and swinging his legs off the bed.

"Please, we need to run some tests, but I promise we won’t hurt you. We’ll do everything we can to keep you comfortable." Dr. George replied, holding his hands out in a non-threatening gesture. He didn't want to agitate the patient, but he didn't want the guy to leave either.

" Oh, as long as he's a comfortable prisoner, that’s a whole ’nother deal." Max retorted, confused by what Alec had said about the virus but knowing this wasn't the time to ask.

Dr. George ignored Max and kept his attention on Alec. "I’m going to have to give you a physical test." He reached out to examine the transgenic, but Alec shrank away from him, wincing in pain.

"Don't touch him!" Max spat, grabbing the doctor's hands and roughly shoving him away.

"As I said," Alec pulled the IV from his arm and the heart monitoring patches from his chest, "I'm leaving." He stood and was soon grateful that Max moved to his side to help him since the room was swirling dizzily around him yet again. Getting shot sucked your sense of balance right out the window sometimes.

"Mr. Eastman, please. Don’t make me put you in restraints. It’s not a good idea to exert yourself so soon after surgery."

"I'm fine," Alec replied, determination coloring his words as he took a step forward.

"No, you’re not fine. In fact, you’ve lost a great deal of blood. If you’re not careful, you just might," the doctor paused as Alec's eyes rolled back in his head and Max was forced to guide his unconscious body to the ground, "pass out."

"What's going on in here?!" Dr. Carr demanded as he pushed his way past the CDC men who were trying to hold him back.

"You must be Dr. Carr," Dr. George said, straightening up and turning toward the new arrival.

"That's right. Who are you and what have you done to my patient?" Dr. Carr demanded, moving quickly over to Max and Alec and helping her lift him back onto the bed. Both strained under the dead weight of Alec's body.

"Could you be any heavier?" Max muttered, once the X5 was positioned on the bed.

"I'm afraid you're both going to have to be quarantined until we determine the nature of Mr. Eastmann's viral infection." Dr. George said, motioning for a couple of the other space-suit-wearing helpers to escort Max and Dr. Carr out.

"Back off, buddy," Max said, dropping into a defensive stance in front of Alec's motionless form.

"I can assure you that Mr. Eastmann is not infected with any type of virus." Dr. Carr said, glancing over at Max and getting a barely perceptible shrug out of her. He sighed and returned his attention to the doctor. "He's been in my care for many years and I would know if there was anything strange about his blood work."

"He admitted it not five minutes ago," Dr. George argued. "He said that he'd had it all his life, but that it wouldn't hurt anyone. You must permit me to examine him thoroughly."

"Dr. George, you're no longer wanted nor needed here. My patient is fine, except for the gunshot wound in his abdomen. You will not agitate him further. Now, leave!"

"You're making a terrible mistake, Dr. Carr. My supervisor will hear about this." Dr. George said, before motioning to the other CDC employees to follow him out the door.

No one moved until they had retreated down the hallway.

"We've got to get him out of here," Dr. Carr said, turning around and hurrying to Alec's side to take his vitals.

"We tried to tell you, Doc," Alec mumbled, blinking his eyes open and groaning.

"You're heavy," Max informed him as she watched him closely for signs of trauma.

"You're hot," he retorted, expecting a slap, but Max had moved away, to check the hallway. "Heh," he grinned, "hot," he pointed to Max, "and heavy," he pointed to himself and chuckled.

"What kind of happy pills did you pump into him?" Max asked, ducking her head back inside and moving to the window to see what that escape route looked like.

Dr. Carr rolled his eyes and finished checking Alec's wound, which was weeping blood, but didn't appear to be damaged badly. Alec hissed as Dr. Carr replaced the bandage.

"I called some friends of mine that run the Life Flight helicopter. They're set to touchdown on the roof in," he checked his watch, "fifteen minutes. They're going to fly you out of here."

"Can you stand without falling over this time?" Max snarked at Alec as she made her way back to the bed.

Alec sighed and slowly sat up. The room was still swimming around him, but he didn't want to hear anymore of Max's snide comments. "Can I at least get dressed first?" He asked, gesturing to the bag that Max had tossed into the corner earlier.

"Hurry up," Max snapped, tossing the bag at him and then heading for the door. "I'll go see if I can scrounge up a wheelchair."

"I can walk!" He called after her, but she was already gone.

Dr. Carr chuckled and headed for the door himself. "I'll be right outside if you need something."

"Whatever," Alec muttered, with a heavy sigh.

Three minutes later, Max shoved the door open and pushed a wheelchair inside. Alec yelped and spun around, nearly losing his balance as he hastily zipped up his pants.

"Give a guy some warning, Maxie. I could have caused seriously bodily harm to Big Alec."

"Big Alec?" Max arched an eyebrow.

Alec shrugged. "I call it like I see it."

"Ew," Max scrunched up her nose and made a gagging sound. "Ew! I did not need to know that! And I highly doubt it's that big, by the way. X5's are meant to look human after all."

"I resent that," Alec retorted, looking wounded. He sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up the shirt laying beside him. Holding it up, he fingered the bullet hole and the large stain of blood around it.

"Here," Max said, tossing him a black t-shirt. "Got it out of the Lost & Found. Thought you might be able to use it."

"Thanks," Alec said, gingerly pulling it over his head. He didn't want to incense Max when she obviously in a giving mood. He was too damn tired and in too much pain to deal with PMS Max. He pressed his hand to his wound, stood up, and headed for the door.

"What do you think you're doing? I didn't go to all the trouble of getting this thing for nothing, Pretty Boy," Max pointed to the hideous black wheelchair.

Alec grimaced and shook his head. "I'm fine. Look," he said, holding his free hand out and turning around, "good as new."

"Whatever. But if you pass out on me, I'm leaving you here for White to deal with."

"Duly noted. Now can we go before that creepy space-suit Doctor comes back?" Alec pouted, his lower lip jutting out.

Max pointed toward the door, no emotion in her eyes. "After you."

"No, no," Alec opened the door and motioned for her to go. "Ladies first."

"Idiots before beauties," Max gritted through clenched teeth.

"Well, then you should definitely be walking, now shouldn't you?" Alec smirked, bracing himself in case she decided that he was well enough to be her punching bag.

"I can't take this anymore," Dr. Carr muttered, passing by both of them and heading into the hallway. "Those doors," he pointed toward the end of the hall," lead up onto the roof. You have less than ten minutes to make it up three flights of stairs. They won't wait forever."

"Thanks for your help, Doc," Alec said, moving through the doorway and clapping Dr. Carr on the shoulder.

"I'll drop by in the morning to check on you if you call me to let me know where you are," he replied.

"I'll be fine," Alec waved the offer away as he headed down the hall.

"I'll call you and let you know where he is," Max said softly as she passed by the doctor. "Thanks."

Dr. Carr nodded and watched them go. Once they'd disappeared from sight, he turned and headed for the downstairs, hoping to stall anyone who might want to get in the way of their escape.

"Gonna make it?" Max asked, one hand on Alec's elbow to keep him moving. They'd climbed the stairs in a painstaking pace, and were now heading toward the doorway that lead to the roof. What idiot designed the building with a separate door to the roof, Max wondered.

"Sure," Alec replied, more winded that he would like. "Can't you tell?"

Max rolled her eyes and moved to open the roof access door when a gunshot caused her to spin around and pull Alec behind her.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" White stood fifty feet down the hallway, a gun now pointed at Max's head. "Four-fifty-two and four-nine-four. It must be my lucky day."

Max and Alec shared a glance. Alec shook his head, letting Max know that he wasn't up for a fight, no matter what was about to happen. She nodded, accepting this before turning to White.

"I'm only here to help," White said, softening his tone a little as he took a step forward. "You know that right?"

"Puh-leeze," Max snapped. "Like you give a shit whether we live or die here."

"I do have to give that one to you. I don't care what happens to you," he shrugged. "But, I do care how much information the CDC gathers on you. That's bad for me and bad for your kind." He spat the last words; his distaste obvious.

"Thanks so much for the concern," Max shot back sarcastically, opening the door in one fast motion and shoving Alec through onto the relative safety of the roof. They fell together and Max quickly rolled to her feet and shoved the door closed. She slammed her hand against the door lock, bending it into the door jamb, and hopefully keeping White at bay long enough for both her and Alec to make it onto the helicopter.

"Max..." Alec trailed off, stumbling to his feet.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, urging him into a run. "C'mon, Alec!" She shouted.

The door burst open, knocked completely off its hinges by White's super strength.

"Whoa!" Alec's eyes widened as he looked over his shoulder to see White stalking toward them. He sped up, pushing his body to its current limits.

"Get in!" Max shouted, as they approached the helicopter. She shoved him inside and started to climb in herself when White grabbed her from behind and jerked her backwards.

Max backflipped and landed on her feet, her fists at ready. White got the first punch though and it knocked Max backward. Alec was shouting at her, but she couldn't make out the words as her attention focused completely on White.

Punches were blocked and parried as White used his position to move her further away from the helicopter. Max swept down low, knocking White's feet out from under him. Then she backflipped over him, intent on getting back to the helicopter. He flipped himself to his feet and attacked again.

The helicopter behind her rose into the air a few feet before touching back down with a loud thud. Max used the distraction to kick at White's leg, in a fashion similiar to the move she'd used to fell Ben so long ago. There was a loud crack and White fell to the ground, not even making so much as a groan of protest. He grabbed for her ankle, but Max was gone. She sprinted the short distance to the roof and leapt into the waiting chopper, yelling for them to get it into the air.

White drew his gun, but the helicopter was out of range before he could get more than a couple shots off.

An hour later, Alec was laying on Max and OC's couch, refusing to move for the next week.

"If this is what happens when the CDC quarantines ya," OC was saying as she covered Alec with a blanket, "ya'll can leave me there if it eva' happens to this sistah."

Alec laughed, but it quickly turned into a groan as pain flared in his side. "Don't make me laugh, please."

"How long it gonna take ya boy to heal?" OC asked as Max limped into the room and sunk down into an armchair.

"A lot longer than it's gonna take my sprained ankle to get better," she replied, propping her foot up on the coffee table.

Alec snorted. "That's what she thinks."

"I'll be fine tomorrow, smart ass."

"But I'll be off work," Alec quipped.

"That a good point ya boy got there," OC laughed.

"Yeah, it is," Max grumbled, throwing a pillow at Alec's grinning form.

"Hey, injured here!" Alec exclaimed, throwing the pillow back.

"Me too!" Max replied, throwing the pillow back in his direction.

Cindy grabbed the pillow in mid-air and looked from Max to Alec and then back again. "Ya'll got issues," she said, shaking her head as she headed toward her room. "And if ya wake Cindy up, there will be hell ta pay in the mornin'."

~The End


End file.
